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LEAST contribute to an explanation

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mehaksal Really wants to Beat The GMAT!
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LEAST contribute to an explanation Post Thu Jul 26, 2012 11:15 am
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  • Lap #[LAPCOUNT] ([LAPTIME])
    19. A recent survey conducted in one North American city revealed widespread concern about the problems faced by teenagers today. Seventy percent of the adults surveyed said they would pay higher taxes for drug treatment programs, and 60 percent said they were willing to pay higher taxes to improve the city’s schools. Yet in a vote in that same city, a proposition to increase funding for schools by raising taxes failed by a narrow margin to win majority approval.
    Which one of the following factors, if true, would LEAST contribute to an explanation of the discrepancy described above?
    (A) The survey sample was not representative of the voters who voted on the proposition.
    (B) Many of the people who were surveyed did not respond truthfully to all of the questions put to them.
    (C) The proposition was only part of a more expensive community improvement program that voters had to accept or reject in total.
    (D) A proposition for increasing funds for local drug treatment centers also failed to win approval.
    (E) The proposition to raise taxes for schools was couched in terminology that many of the voters found confusing.

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    alex.gellatly GMAT Destroyer! Default Avatar
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    Post Thu Jul 26, 2012 8:40 pm
    We need to find the answer which least contributes to an explanation. That means all the answers which strengthen the argument are out.
    mehaksal wrote:
    19. A recent survey conducted in one North American city revealed widespread concern about the problems faced by teenagers today. Seventy percent of the adults surveyed said they would pay higher taxes for drug treatment programs, and 60 percent said they were willing to pay higher taxes to improve the city’s schools. Yet in a vote in that same city, a proposition to increase funding for schools by raising taxes failed by a narrow margin to win majority approval.
    Which one of the following factors, if true, would LEAST contribute to an explanation of the discrepancy described above?
    (A) The survey sample was not representative of the voters who voted on the proposition.This strengthens the argument.
    (B) Many of the people who were surveyed did not respond truthfully to all of the questions put to them.This strengthens the argument.
    (C) The proposition was only part of a more expensive community improvement program that voters had to accept or reject in total. This strengthens the argument.
    (D) A proposition for increasing funds for local drug treatment centers also failed to win approval. This neither strengthens nor weakens the argument and therefore is the best choice.
    (E) The proposition to raise taxes for schools was couched in terminology that many of the voters found confusing.This strengthens the argument.
    Answers A,B,C, and E all help the argument by explaining some reason why the voters did not pass the law. Either they were confused, they lied, or some other explanation. Answer D does not give an explanation and is irreverent to the argument. Thus, it must be the only answer which contributes least. Go with D.

    vk_vinayak GMAT Destroyer!
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    Post Thu Jul 26, 2012 9:55 pm
    Quote:
    (C) The proposition was only part of a more expensive community improvement program that voters had to accept or reject in total. This strengthens the argument.
    (D) A proposition for increasing funds for local drug treatment centers also failed to win approval. This neither strengthens nor weakens the argument and therefore is the best choice.
    Argument: Voter's in the survey said the'd pay higher taxes for drug treatment related causes. But in the voting for 'paying higher taxes' to increase school funding did not majority approval.

    We need an answer that is LEAST helpful in explaining the above discrepancy.

    D. Says that voting for 'paying higher taxes' for local drug treatment also failed to win approval. It sort of explains the 'discrepancy' by saying that there is no discrepancy.

    While C says that voters had to accept or reject in total. Isn't it what voting means? ie you select one option and reject other options. How does this explain the discrepancy?

    Based on above reasoning, I vote for C.

    @mehaksal, can you post the OA and the official explanation?

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    KapTeacherEli GMAT Instructor
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    Post Sat Jul 28, 2012 10:39 am
    Hi alex,

    Thanks for the thoughtful analysis. However, you're unfortunately missing the mark--you're looking for an argument, but Explain questions like this one don't have arguments! There is no "evidence" or "conclusion," and no "assumption" to strengthen or weaken.

    Explain questions will simply present a situation or set of data that appears mysterious, contradictory, or even outright impossible. Your job is to explain why those facts are not in fact impossible.

    So your first step on these problems should always be the same: rephrase the mystery. In this case, the discrepancy is between poll results (People said in a survey they'd pay taxes for schools and drug programs) and actual voting result (a plan to do just that was voted down!)

    Next, try to predict explanation for these facts. Two immediately jump to mind for me: the survey might have had a flaw that made it inaccurate, or some other factor might have been more important to individuals than their opinions on schools and drugs.

    With that prediction in hand, I check each answer choice--because this is an "except" question, I will rule out any answer that does provide an explanation.

    (A) and (B) match the first prediction; the discrepancy is resolved by a flaw in the poll. (C) and (E) match the second prediction; other associated expenses, or confusing terminology, could both be outside factors overriding people's favorable impression of the initiative. That leaves (D), the correct answer--which deepens the mystery, since it shows the poll was completely wrong without providing any useful explanation.

    Good luck with your studies!

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    alex.gellatly GMAT Destroyer! Default Avatar
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    Post Sat Jul 28, 2012 8:52 pm
    KapTeacherEli wrote:
    Hi alex,

    Thanks for the thoughtful analysis. However, you're unfortunately missing the mark--you're looking for an argument, but Explain questions like this one don't have arguments! There is no "evidence" or "conclusion," and no "assumption" to strengthen or weaken.

    Explain questions will simply present a situation or set of data that appears mysterious, contradictory, or even outright impossible. Your job is to explain why those facts are not in fact impossible.

    So your first step on these problems should always be the same: rephrase the mystery. In this case, the discrepancy is between poll results (People said in a survey they'd pay taxes for schools and drug programs) and actual voting result (a plan to do just that was voted down!)

    Next, try to predict explanation for these facts. Two immediately jump to mind for me: the survey might have had a flaw that made it inaccurate, or some other factor might have been more important to individuals than their opinions on schools and drugs.

    With that prediction in hand, I check each answer choice--because this is an "except" question, I will rule out any answer that does provide an explanation.

    (A) and (B) match the first prediction; the discrepancy is resolved by a flaw in the poll. (C) and (E) match the second prediction; other associated expenses, or confusing terminology, could both be outside factors overriding people's favorable impression of the initiative. That leaves (D), the correct answer--which deepens the mystery, since it shows the poll was completely wrong without providing any useful explanation.

    Good luck with your studies!
    So I got the right answer, but used the wrong approach is what you are saying?

    confuse mind GMAT Destroyer! Default Avatar
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    Post Sat Jul 28, 2012 9:24 pm
    IMO - D
    Because analogy is never an explanation for any situation.

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    KapTeacherEli GMAT Instructor
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    Post Sat Jul 28, 2012 11:05 pm
    alex.gellatly wrote:
    So I got the right answer, but used the wrong approach is what you are saying?
    Not necessarily the wrong approach, but at least the wrong terminology!

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    umeshpatil Rising GMAT Star
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    Post Sun Jul 29, 2012 8:04 am
    It is a challenging CR. What is the source ?

    mehaksal Really wants to Beat The GMAT!
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    Post Mon Aug 06, 2012 5:26 am
    LSAT!

    mv12 Really wants to Beat The GMAT! Default Avatar
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    Post Mon Aug 06, 2012 11:19 pm
    d it is.

    mehaksal Really wants to Beat The GMAT!
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    Post Thu Aug 09, 2012 12:09 am
    okay people am like new to the forum...and I wanna know how to find the OA??!!

    vk_vinayak GMAT Destroyer!
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    Post Thu Aug 09, 2012 1:09 am
    mehaksal wrote:
    okay people am like new to the forum...and I wanna know how to find the OA??!!
    OA = Official Answer
    OE = Official Explanation.

    Questions are developed by companies such as OG (GMAT Official Guide), Kaplan, MGMAT, Veritas ... etc. Each question will have an official answer (OA) and official explanation (OE) provided by the respective companies.

    Remember, the OAs provided by Official Guide are taken for granted, while OAs of other test prep companies are up for debate.

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